Policy makers must listen to the battery industry to ensure the European Commission’s Batteries Regulation policy framework is both workable and fosters innovation.
The sentiment was voiced during a panel discussion held by EUROBAT (Association of European Automotive and Industrial Battery Manufacturers), which focused on the Green Recovery and the role of batteries from a market perspective.
Member of European Parliament, Maria Spyraki, said policy-makers should listen to the views of the battery industry to ensure that the Batteries Regulation is implementable and facilitates innovative, reusable and recyclable batteries.
The Batteries Regulation, which replaces the Battery Directive, sets out the goals of modernising legislative framework supporting the transition to electro-mobility, carbon-neutral energy storage, and a sustainable battery value chain.
The panel discussion was held for the 350 participants to EUROBAT’s webinar ‘Sustainable Batteries: a New Regulatory Framework and Market Outlook’.
The event featured EU policy-making and the European battery industry, including MEPs Claudia Gamon and Maria Spyraki, the Portuguese presidency’s Telma Branco, Avicenne Energy’s Christophe Pillot and Tesla’s Jos Dings, alongside EUROBAT’s Marc Zoellner, Karsten Kurz and Patrick De Metz.
Zoellner, EUROBAT president and CEO of the Hoppecke Group, said during the webinar that “all battery technologies will continue to be essential to the EU’s efforts to build a climate-neutral economy by 2050” and “the goal must be to create a sustainable, independent and competitive European battery industry through the Batteries Regulation”.
MEP Gamon used the meeting to call for all imported batteries in the continent to be held to the same sustainability standards as those produced in Europe.
Business certainty
Dings, European Policy and Business Development-Tesla Automotive, expressed concern the proposed Batteries Regulation left too many points to secondary legislation, adding that business certainty was needed if companies were to invest in Europe.
Kurz, EUROBAT chair EHS Cluster and director environmental affairs, Europe- Exide Technologies, said that legislative duplication in areas such as chemicals management, where REACH already provided a robust framework, should be avoided in order to provide the European battery industry with the business certainty and stability it requires.
Watch the webinar in full: https://youtu.be/zH-J8YHoT9E
